Counting Stars
by Song Of A Free Heart
Summary: Sequel to Among The Stars - Jack may have taken his responsibility, and managed to marry Rapunzel, but that doesn't mean the story is over. Not with the New Empire on the rise - and not with Alvin the Treacherous still ruling Berk. And the crew of the Night Fury have never been the type to sit still and stay out of trouble. Especially not when there are people who need them.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't mind giving happy endings; it's the only kind of endings I like giving. But I realized, the ending of ATS had too many loose threads, and I couldn't let the noble heroes just vanish onto a secret planet. They wouldn't be noble heroes if they could ignore the fact there's still an evil Empire outside, Alvin the Treacherous is still ruling Berk, Merida's still not on speaking terms with her parents… and a character mentioned in the Atlantis Arc was never actually identified. All in all, it didn't really qualify as a happy ending. It didn't qualify as an ending it all, as your guys' questions pointed out. **

**So, here we go. **

_**Rise of the Guardians**_** is the property of DreamWorks Animation**_**, Guardians of Childhood**_** belongs to William Joyce; **_**How To Train Your Dragon**_** belongs to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell; **_**Tangled**_** belongs to Disney, **_**Brave **_**to Disney/PIXAR. Any others characters are elements are either the property of their respected owners, or they are my own creation. (It's a sci-fi story – of course it's a huge universe.)**

**Still for Eva.**

"_Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be" ~ Counting Stars_ by OneRepublic

_Chapter 1_

In the four months they had been married, Jack had discovered that a part of his intuition had become attuned to Rapunzel. When something was off, imminent danger and such, he felt it in his gut. When it came to her, he felt it in his heart. So it might have been a different sense all together, but they were comparable. When she was nearby he felt it like liquid sunlight being pumped through his veins (a strange sensation with his body temperature, but one he thoroughly enjoyed). It wasn't as pleasant when she was upset. But whatever the tone, it was distinct enough he always knew when it had to do with his wife.

That was what woke him up.

It wasn't immediate. But the growing sense wouldn't let him stay asleep.

Bleary eyed, Jack lifted his head off the pillow, bracing an elbow on the mattress to hold himself up.

Rapunzel was sitting up, her arms around her knees as she looked out the window beside the bed. Not hugging herself, though, so he knew she hadn't had a nightmare. Silver blue moonlight came through the window – enough he could make out her pensive expression.

At three in the morning, that couldn't be a good thing.

"You okay?" The words were thick with sleep that was reluctant to let him go fully.

She bit her lip, not looking at him. The blankets shifted as her feet fidgeted. A nervous habit that told him he wasn't going to like what came next.

"I was thinking about the Empire."

Nope. He didn't like it.

Jack groaned, letting his arm give out so he fell face first into the pillow. "Three in the morning, Punz."

"I know," she said quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Jack sighed as he rolled onto his back. If he wanted anymore sleep tonight, he would have to hear her out. If she didn't express it, it would nag at them both: her thoughts and his curiosity. First, though, he would have to reassure her that he didn't resent being woken up.

Taking her hand from her knee, he pressed it over his heart. "Remember what I said that night on Corona when we talked about my scars?"

He fingers splayed over his chest, warmth spreading from the touch. "About how I scarred your heart?"

Jack nodded. "If there's something bothering you, I know it, Punz. I could be on the other side of the galaxy and I'd feel it. It would probably wake me up if I were comatose."

The corner of her mouth curled in a shy smile.

Toothiana had warned him before the wedding that marrying someone he had known less than half a year meant they still had a great deal to learn about each other. Especially since Rapunzel was still recovering from Gothel's mental abuse in the Tower. He had learned to quickly reassure her when she started to feel insecure. Something that was happening much less often, thankfully.

"Why are you thinking about the Empire?" he asked. He let go of her hand, but she didn't remove it.

Instead, she began to trace abstract swirls over his skin with her fingertips, leaving trails of warmth on his cool skin. Her eyes followed the movement.

"I've been running errands of mercy all over the galaxy since I was fourteen," she said. "Anywhere there was trouble in the Empire, I brought aid in any form I could, whether it was through my political skills, or just food and medical supplies."

They had figured out months before that she had practically trailed behind the _Night Fury_, tying up loose ends after they had fixed the major problem and raced back to the stars. It still left Jack a little stunned every time he thought about it. For a galaxy so large, the number of times their paths had so nearly crossed was incredible.

"I love Warren," she said. "And I don't regret my choice, before you start thinking that."

Jack grinned sheepishly. They both needed reassurance sometimes.

"But the New Empire is as bad as Gothel ever was," she said. "Worse, because it's not spoiled negligence; it's an iron fisted dictatorship. And we're not out there."

"We?" He was very mixed about where this conversation was going… but it was waking up a part of he had been trying very hard to keep locked up like a dragon in his ribcage.

"The _Night Fury_ isn't out deposing correct officials, rescuing damsels in distress, or getting refugees off war torn planets. When I realized all the planets where I arrived days or weeks after you, I realized how much hope you, Hiccup and Merida brought to the galaxy."

"I'm pretty sure you're over estimating what we did," Jack said.

"No I'm not, Jack. All those things you told me about that night, what do you thinking I was doing the two months we were apart before the wedding?" Rapunzel's fingers slowed as they formed a wide loop over the joint of his left shoulder. "I looked up everything you told me about. Not just the events you told me about, but what happened afterwards. You spent all that time not looking back, you never realized what an impact you had on the people you helped."

"And I didn't look back because I had responsibilities," Jack said, reminding himself more than her. "You know that, Princess." But he used her title-turned-nickname for emphasis.

"I'm not saying live in space again," Rapunzel said. "But would the other Governors really be upset if we went out to help from time to time?"

Sometimes, like now, when she argued her case so well he couldn't find a valid argument, Jack became acutely aware that he had married a politician. It was even harder when he didn't _want_ to argue.

"We could slip in and out in ways North and the _Sleigh_ can't," she went on. "Winter doesn't require that much from you; if anything happens while we're gone Katherine can talk to the wolves. And we would still be here most of the time."

"Overkill," Jack muttered, sighing as he rubbed his face.

Rapunzel giggled softly, murmuring at the code word they both knew meant Jack was convinced.

They were silent for a few minutes, while Jack mulled it over as much as his tired mind would allow. It would need a proper viewing in the light of day, but one flaw stood out even in the light of a crescent moon.

"And what about Warren's deal with the Empire?" He asked. "That we wouldn't interfere."

The fact Bunnymund had agreed to any deal with the Empire at all was a miracle. Jack and Rapunzel's marriage wasn't exact dependent on it – but the wedding wouldn't have been allowed to happen if the deal hadn't been made. (As much as the other Governors talked about her keeping him out of trouble, Jack sometimes wondered if that had been a deciding factor in their proposing the deal at all.)

"We wouldn't interfere," Rapunzel said.

Jack gave her a highly doubtful expression. He was pretty sure that was all he, Hiccup and Merida had done.

She met his gaze, not backing down. "Come on, Jack." Her hand splayed over his heart again. "We both know you're too wild at heart to stay here. Not when we can do some good."

The hardest part was that she knew him too well.

For six months he had quelled the restless nature that wanted to be back out among the stars. It was especially appealing if he could have a home to come back to, rather than just being a restless wander. Quelled it, but not killed it. He couldn't – it was a part of him. A part Rapunzel's words were freeing from its prison in his ribcage, and he wasn'tsure he would be able to put it back to sleep.

Jack sighed, closing his eyes. His body temperature was dropping in agitation. Because he couldn't think of another opposition – and he really didn't want to.

Oh. There was one problem.

"You remember the _Night Fury_ isn't mine, right? Hiccup's not going to let me go anywhere without him."

"Hiccup won't say no."

Jack snorted. "Rapunzel, the baby is due in what? Six weeks?"

"Four."

"I don't see either of them wanting to leave the planet for a few months, at least."

"It wouldn't hurt to bring the subject up," she countered.

"No, it wouldn't," Jack conceded, though trying not to get his hopes up. Because the thought of doing something again…. "We'll talk to Hiccup when I get back from Winter tomorrow."

Rapunzel's smile was so bright Jack was amazed it didn't light up the room. In the face of that smile, Jack knew he couldn't dher anything. And it only got better when she lunged to kiss him in gratitude, still beaming. Bu the time she pulled back, the corner of his mouth tugged in a grin as well.

"Thank you, Jack."

She started to roll away, onto her side of the bed, but Jack snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her back.

"You woke me up at three in the morning," he said with a smirk as he hoisted himself back onto his elbow. "You're not getting off that easy."

Rapunzel giggled as he kissed her again, not protesting when he deepened it.

#

The Warren territory really only had two seasons: spring and summer. Fall and winter made brief appearances, but barely lasted more than a couple months altogether. Fall was a brilliant display of color, winter usually had a light dusting of snow only when Jack helped it along. (Though Bunnymund never liked when Jack did so – never mind that they all knew he didn't lower the temperature enough to damage any of the Pooka's precious flora.)

They were on the downside of summer – the spring flowers had faded away, leaving a thousand shades of green that would soon explode with colors before the process started all over again.

Rapunzel spent most of her time in the gardens, where Bunnymund welcomed her help in tending the acres of plants and trees. A few weeks earlier she had overseen the harvesting of the orchards, a task that had left her so elated Jack couldn't complain, but he was mystified by it. Growing up it was a chore he had been forced into every year, and he spent more time goofing off and being lectures than actually harvesting the fruit.

She had settled in easily, just as he had known she would. Sometimes he could wish the other Governors adored her a little less.

He expected to find her in the gardens when the wind brought him back from Winter the next day. But he didn't see her on his pass over the gardens. Instead, he caught sight of a familiar mane of bright red hair sitting on a bench next to the koi pond.

Merida glanced up as he came to land a few feet away, the grass frosting over where he touched down before he could dispel some of the cold.

"How's Winter?"

"Ice and snow," he said. "Isolfr's insolent. The usual."

Merida smirked. "Still can't believe you're in charge of a whole territory."

"I can't believe you're about to be a mother," Jack countered playfully, glancing at his friend's very pregnant stomach.

Merida's smirk faded. "I'm still not sure I'm ready." Her aquamarine eyes became distant as she looked out at the plants that rustled in the breeze.

Occasionally one of the orange and white fish would swim close enough to the surface that their scales would catch the sunlight for a bright moments.

Jack hesitated for a moment, then took a seat next to her on the marble bench that had been warmed by hours in the late summer sunlight. The air was warmer than comfortable for him, but everyone else seemed to love this time. The green smell in the air told him one of the lawns had been mowed within the past few hours. Nearby he could hear children laughing as they splashed in the pool. The same one where Merida had once reamed him out about hugging Rapunzel.

Thankfully most of her bad temper had passed when she stopped keeping her pregnancy a secret. Her mood swings had mostly pass as well.

Mostly.

"You okay?" he asked carefully, terrified she was about to start crying. Apparently her sensitivity was normal given her condition, but the one time he had seen her burst into tears for no apparent reason had unnerved him. In part because it was Merida. He had only seen her cry all of three times before that, and always in extreme circumstances.

"I keep thinkin' about my mum," she said. "If I had listened to her, instead of bein' so rebellious – if I had heard what she was tryin' to teach me – maybe I would have learned how to be a mother. If this girl's anythin' like me, I'm doomed."

Jack bit back a laugh. "Hence why I'm not in a hurry to have kids."

He was already convinced he and Rapunzel would have a daughter – one who would make him pay for everything he had put Thomas through during his and Rapunzel's tumultuous courtship (if it could even be called that).

"You were never a brat."

"Sure I was," Jack countered. He though it might be customary to reassure her she hadn't been _that_ bad… but he couldn't say it with a clear conscience. Because, stars, the eighteen-year-old Merida he had first met _had_ been a brat. But so had he. That was why they had butted heads so many times. "But you improved pretty fast. It took me five years."

"I used to get so mad when ya called me a brat." Merida shook her head, hands resting on her stomach.

"I threw it around more than I should have," Jack admitted. Along with a few other names and malicious thoughts he was now ashamed of.

"Ya know when I realized ye were right?"

He shook his head.

"On Moira, after Hiccup's foot was damaged," she said. "When they were takin' him in to fix his foot. I don't even know what I said, but ya told me to stop bein' such a brat. I saw Hiccups face, and I realized ye were right. Compared to him, I had no idea what it was like to suffer. That whole time we were waitin', I kept thinkin' about what I knew about you two, and how I had nothin' to complain about. If my life was hard, it was 'cause I chose it. You two didn't get a choice – or ya couldn't take back the choices you'd made."

That was a scene Jack remembered. They had been on Apfel when Hiccup's leg had been injured by Queen Regina's hounds. A swipe from one of the hounds had torn the skin below his left knee, while the lifelike prosthetic foot had been torn to shreds. It had been a mess of blood and sparking wires.

It had been Merida's first real exposure to battle (the few skirmishes they had been in before that hadn't fully counted – even the battle on Atlantis had been tame in comparison) and the profuse amount of blood had sent her into shock. Jack had had to get Snow White to the neighboring kingdom (where her fiancé had already promised to help Snow overthrow her step-mother and reclaim her throne), get the unconscious Hiccup and the shocked Merida onto the ship, and pilot them to the hospital on Moira where both parts of Hiccup's injured leg could be fixed by experts.

He didn't remember what Merida had said – but he remembered months of frustration with her spilling over in that moments. He could conclude he had been a little harsh in telling her to shut up and stop being a brat. But things had been different after that very long night.

"We were young," Jack said.

"It was two years ago."

Jack laughed dryly. "Feels like a lot longer."

Considering all they had been through since then, he knew they had all been forced to mature quickly.

Well, Hiccup had already been mature, after the civil war on Berk. It was Jack and Merida who had both had a lot of growing up to do.

"You could always call your mom," he suggested, returning to her earlier comment. "It seems like the baby would be a pretty good way to start rebuilding that bridge."

Merida looked away.

Jack was trying to think of something else to say when his commlink chimed. He frowned as he pulled it from the pockets of his cargo pants. The device was barely used now days. When they had lived on the _Night Fury_ they had always been calling each other, even if it turned out they were just a few rooms away. Not there were more people in his life, and a lot more space, but the only person who commed him with any regularity was Rapunzel.

The call was from Hiccup.

Only as he answered it, did Jack realize there was a small, familiar sensation nagging at the back of his mind – one he hadn't felt in six months. But it was undeniably there.

"What's up?"

Hiccup hesitated. "Have you seen the news?"

Any hope that he was jumping to conclusions just because he was getting a call vanished when he heard the serious, almost desperate tone in Hiccup's voice. He really didn't like that combination. Especially when it came to Hiccup, who had always been the steady one when Jack and Merida weren't.

"I've been in Winter all day. What happened?"

"It's Berk."


	2. Chapter 2

**So, before we get to chapter 2, I just want to say: guys, we need to get HTTYD2 to number 1. This is a movie that has changed my life, because the first movie taught me so much about myself, and Hiccup's adventures inspire me both in my writing, and my life, in ways I could never put into words. Even beyond me, HTTYD and the Big Four have brought so many people together, established so many friendships, and helped many of us through difficult times in our lives. So let's make sure this movie gets the success it deserves – especially so we can see more of Hiccup and Toothless! If this movie doesn't earn enough, DreamWorks probably won't okay the funds for the third one. **

**Now, onto chapter 2! And now that there are two Fel's in the story, I have to start referring to Emil by his first name. *shudder* (Thank you to **_**Captain America: The Winter Soldier**_**, which gave me such a great solution for the hologram conference.) **

Chapter 2

_Emperor Fel talks peace with Berk_

The screen on the wall of the war room was paused on an image of a press conference in the Imperial Palace on Pallash I, Emperor Kalso Fel at the podium. The same one Gothel had used in her press conferences, though now it bore the emblem of the New Empire. And if that wasn't perfect symbolism of what the "new" regime had turned into, Jack didn't know what was. Even the emperor, though the he wore the dress uniform that had been designed for the New Empire, still proudly displayed his medals from the previous regime.

When the coup had first taken place, the name Fel hadn't rung any bells in Jack's head. Once he had seen the new emperor he recognized him though, a barrel chested man with hard eyes and dark blond hair buzzed to fit the dress code Jack had learned at the Academy. He was still a military man through and through. He had been present at one of the training exercises Jack had barely passed at some point in the Academy – and Grand Admiral Fel had been the one to lecture him on why teamwork was so vital to the Imperial Fleet, and a lot of other stuff Jack hadn't paid enough attention to remember.

Behind him on the dais stood Prince Emil Fel (all talk of a democratic empire had died out within weeks of the coup). Jack utter dislike for the man tasted like bile in the back of his throat. Unlike his father, Emil had left behind his uniform to work as an ambassador – though the trend in formal clothing in the Empire was now so militaristic it was almost hard to tell it wasn't a uniform, except for the lack of ranking and medals on his chest. His hair was longer, and artfully tousled – a look Merida insisted, and Hiccup agreed, meant he was trying to copy Jack (and failing miserably).

Jack didn't know about that. But, stars, he couldn't put into words how grateful he was that Rapunzel was already seated at the war table, not standing beside the Imperial prince. It was tradition for the Governor's spouses to have a place at the table, and her place was right next to his. Her seventy feet of golden hair was woven into thick braids, strands of pearls and small wild flowers for decoration. The flowers seemed to last days without wilting, as long as they were in her presence, something no doubt connected to her healing powers, though Jack couldn't begin to guess how that theory would work scientifically.

At the moment he couldn't spare her more than a glance, though, because the the words across the bottom of the screen that almost made him stumble as he passed through the doorway.

When Hiccup had said it was Berk, Jack had expected something bad: the outbreak of the civil war that had never really ended had been chief in his mind as he made his way here. He hadn't expected something on a galactic level. Especially not something that would involve the Empire. Berk had refused to align itself with the Empire as long as the Empire had stretched that far into space. Gothel had given up trying to form an alliance with them years ago, and they had been left to build ships and kill each other in their own civil wars.

This was so much worse than he had expected.

Merida had been a few steps behind him, but she came to a full stop in the doorway.

Wordlessly, Jack took his assigned seat at the long, polished wood table, kissing the top of Rapunzel's head in a silent greeting as he did so, taking the opportunity to inhale the floral perfume that filled the air around her from the hours she spent in the garden. Her lips started to twitch in a smile, but her visible concern kept the expression from manifesting fully. Under the table she took his hand and squeezed it. Baby Tooth had been hovering near Rapunzel, but she wasted no time taking her usual perch on his left shoulder. The fairies were from the tropical climate of Punjam Hy Loo, so she preferred to stay in Warren when he went to Winter.

Most of the other Governors, at home in their own territories, were there by hologram, projected into their assigned seats. Nicholas St. North's hands were folded in front of his mouth, eyes narrowed and intense, his dark tattoos stark against his skin, while Toothiana's wings fluttered in agitation. Quiet Sandy was as serious as Jack and seen it since the Shadow Wars, eight years earlier. Katherine and Nightlight, both of whom were in Santoff Claussen, spoke to each other in hushed whispers. E. Aster Bunnymund, ears twitching, with the only other Governor there in person.

Though technically Hiccup was only a member of North's fleet, places had been assigned to him and Merida at the table – something Jack suspected was because of their friendship with him, though he couldn't find an exact logic for that. He hadn't planned to comment on the exception until Hiccup had directly asked if it was a big deal.

"Everyone's here," said Bunnymund, once Merida was seated – something that proved a little harder the closer she got to her due date. "This was broadcast from Pallash I a few hours ago."

The news clip on the screen started playing, the emperor coming to life.

"We are pleased to announce that our peace talks with Berk are going extremely well." Kalo Fel spoke in a baritone that demanded everyone sit up and listen. (Except Jack, who, just as he had five years ago, slouched a little in sheer defiance.) "King Alvin and I are both confident we can reach an agreement, and Berk will ally itself with the New Empire in a month's time."

"Crikey," Bunnymund muttered. Jack still wasn't sure exactly what that word mean, but he agreed with his mentor's tone completely.

Fel went on. "Berk is, without a doubt, the manufacturers of the finest ships in the galaxy, and an alliance - something Gothel never came close to achieving – would be not only a political asset, but a military one as well."

"Cheap shot," Jack muttered. He had stated months ago to wonder when Fel would stop mentioning Gothel just to try and convince everyone he was so much more accomplished than his predecessor. Did he hope it would inspire civilian loyalty?

The military advantage wasn't an underestimate, though. Back in the Academy several of his instructors had openly lamented Berk's refusal to come under Imperial rule. As long as they were independent the Imperial Fleet couldn't include Viking ships. And the Academy didn't train well enough to make up the difference when one of their ships came in contact with anything Berk made. That was why Jack had been thrilled when teaming up with Hiccup had put him at the helm of a Berk Nadder.

The loss of the _Stormfly II_ on Maldonia had been considerably sodened when they were gifted the Mystery Class Hiccup shad named the _Night Fury._ (The Nadder line was great, but Jack would take a Mystery Class any day.)

"We will release more information when we had a drafted agreement. I will not be answering questions as this time."

Bunnymund paused the video as Kalso and Emil left the platform.

"I found an article with a statement from Alvin saying he believes the New Empire is one he wants to ally himself with," Rapunzel said.

Hiccup snorted. "He would."

She looked at him, her expression silently asking something. Jack realized suddenly that he had never told Rapunzel about Hiccup's past. He had mentioned bits and pieces, but he had already felt it was a story Hiccup would have to tell her. It was such a part of Hiccup's character, it wasn't his right to share something so private. Both he and Merida had only learned it through bits and pieces over the past three years as they had earned his trust.

Bunnymund turned to look at Hiccup. The Pooka's ears twitched in a way Jack had seen only a few times. "This can't happen."

"Agreed," Hiccup said, though his tone was uncertain, clearly not sure how they were supposed to stop it.

"Since when it Berk a monarchy?" Rapunzel asked. "I thought it was divided into tribes."

"The monarchy comes and goes," Hiccup said, with an attempt at a casual shrug. It fell flat, though. "Every few hundred years someone from the royal line steps forward and unite the tribes. If they fail it's a bloody mess. If they succeed it's a bloody mess followed by a few generations of tense peace. I fought Alvin for the throne since I was fourteen without even realizing it." He shook his head. "That's how the war started."

Jack and Merida exchanged glances, and he saw a flash of pain in her eyes as she touched her husband's shoulder. They both knew the story – and they both knew how much Hiccup still regretted being forced to run away, leaving behind his friends and his parents. The war still haunted him, and it was something they rarely spoke of, but it was usually never far from their thoughts. It influenced all Hiccup's decisions, and thus all of theirs.

"It makes sense, though," Jack observed, looking at the image of the emperor and his son leaving the dais they had stolen. Stolen from a tyrant, but still stolen. "Alvin and Kalso are both brutal tyrants who murdered their way onto their thrones. "They should get along as well as two greedy tyrants can."

"With knives behind their backs, you mean?" Rapunzel asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Jack wanted to quip that he thought that was how all politicians got along… but remembered who he had married just in time to instead offer a small grin and squeeze her hand. "Exactly."

"More concerning is Viking Ships in fleet," North said, his voice clear but strangely distant coming through the speaker set in his place at the table. "Just a handful would make fleet nearly unstoppable."

"No." Hiccup shook his head. "I mean, yeah, that would be bad. But Alvin and Excellinor never do anything that doesn't benefit them. What do they get out of this?"

"Increased sales?" Merida suggested, though she looked doubtful. She knew enough about politics, and Alvin, to know that wasn't it.

"Too trivial," Jack said. "With the new trade laws, smuggling is up – and most of those smugglers are in Viking ships. Once the fleet is equipped, that obliterates their main market." It was common knowledge, though not always spoken of. But Berkian ships were preferred by smugglers for the same reason they had kept him, Hiccup and Merida alive for the past three years. And most wealthy consumers wanted a Viking ship as well. It was smugglers who knew how to use them, though. "But if they thought the Empire could increase their sales, they would have formed an alliance years ago. And Gothel would have given them more freedom."

"You said the civil war never really ended." Rapunzel looked between the three friends, confirming she was on the right track. "Maybe he needs help flushing out the resistance."

The three friends exchanged glances. Hiccup was unusually still for a moment before he spoke.

"That makes sense. My parents…" he trailed off, looking down at the grain of the table. "This is all my fault."

"You can't take that on yourself, Hiccup," Toothiana said, wings fluttering. It was the same tone she had used to comfort Jack when he had been younger.

"Actually, he can." The moment the words were out Jack knew they had come out wrong, even before everyone shot him a glare – except Hiccup, who only looked up at him. Jack held up his hands in defense. A couple years ago he would have been the first one to try and convince Hiccup it wasn't his fault. Emphasis on _try_. And when you looked at the facts, Hiccup was the one who had started the whole ball rolling.

"My point is: maybe it's time to go back," Jack said, before anyone could scold him for being rude. (That was one thing he hadn't missed in the five years he had been gone.)

Something in Hiccup's expression shifted to stunned, and Merida's glare finally eased.

"Our treaty with the Empire is not to interfere," Nightlight reminded.

"And this is _exactly_ what the treaty is talking about," Bunnymund said. "Anything we do is a direct violation of the treaty."

Jack's squeezed Rapunzel's hand under the table, hoping she wouldn't start blaming herself the restrictions of the treaty.

It was strange having the other Governors there, and they kept startling him a little every time they spoke. The tone of the conversation was the same as so many the three of them had had aboard the _Stormfly_ and the _Night Fury_, usually in the galley, or the cockpit – examining a situation, trying to figure out exactly what they were getting into, and whether or not they should. Usually there wasn't even a question about their getting involved, whether they wanted to or not. But normally it wasn't such an emotionally charged situation. This wasn't a random conflict they stumbled across. This was the raw wound of Hiccup's past. A past he seemed even less adjusted to than Jack had thought.

The table was quiet for a moment, and Jack weighed his words carefully before he dared to break it.

"Now that Rapunzel and I are married, there's not really much they could do even if we broke the treaty," he pointed out – not at all surprised by several sighs of frustration around the table. "They still don't know where Warren is – and isn't this worth the risk?"

"They could shoo the _Night Fury_ out of the sky!" Bunnymund snapped.

"Ya say that like it's somethin' new," Merida muttered dryly.

"That's beside the point," Bunnymund said. "This is—"

"Stop." Jack held up a hand, cutting through the disagreement between the two before it could mount to an argument. Bunnymund and Merida's personalities were such the two were more likely to disagree with each other just before they could. He suspected it had something to do with their accents… And it could be amusing, but the situation was too serious for the time it would waste, and too stressful for Jack to enjoy it. He looked at the other Governors. "Look, I spent five years running from Warren. Hiccup's been running from Berk for three."

"It's different," Hiccup said, not seeming to notice the statement wasn't directed at him.

"Yeah, it's worse for you," Jack said. "The war, and the way you left, have haunted you as long as I've known you. Why do you think I asked if you were okay in the diner? We've talked about going back to make things right, but something always comes up. Maybe now it's time. We can't make excuses about needing to refuel, or take a job."

Rapunzel's hand had slipped from his at some point, so he could use his hands to talk. He looked over, expecting her support, especially in the light of their conversation the night before. Instead she was biting her lower lip.

"I can't," Hiccup said.

"You have to."

Hiccup snickered. "That's what I used to think – and look how badly I messed that up!" His voice was tight, louder than usual. "I don't even know how many people have died because of me. My cousin, who spent seventeen years trying to kill me for being the future chief, died so I could get off world. And A—" The pain in his eyes when he cut off was unique to the one name none of them had dared speak in a while. It took a moment for Hiccup to find his voice again. "For all I know my parents, and my best friends, are dead."

"All the more reason to finally put an end to it," Jack said. "Look, I know you don't want to, but maybe you need to."

Hiccup sighed, looking away.

"Maybe it's time t' lay the ghosts t' rest, Hiccup," Merida said, her voice quiet but strong in the stillness of the war room.

"Thank you," Jack muttered, glad someone was finally backing him up.

Hiccup looked at his wife. His expression made it clear he was giving far more weight to Merida's words than Jack's, which made the Winter Governor roll his eyes. (Just a little.)

"Merida, the baby—"

"Is goin' to need ya," Merida said. "But not your army of ghosts."

Surprisingly succinct, coming from Merida.

"We have t' do somethin'," Bunnymund said after a quiet moment, his voice heavy as he looked the four over. "As it is, you're our best chance. But once you get t' Berk, we can't help ya."

Jack nodded. The _Night Fury_ would have to claim they were acting independent of the Governors if the treaty was to be maintained at all. If they succeeded, maybe the Empire would turn a blind eye. With Hiccup's claim to Berk's throne (as valid, if not more so, than Alvin's), they may be able to find a loophole. But there was no guarantee.

He and Merida both looked at Hiccup, waiting for his answer.

"We need to think about it."


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter would have come sooner, but I had to write an essay for school, and then I got sick. XP **

_Chapter 3_

The Warren Territory's hanger bay was built into the mountain behind the palace, rough rock giving way to the smooth concrete floor and paneled walls. The large opening was guarded by a force field, but during the day it was usually left down. And even if it had been up, Jack had the codes to either lower the force field or go through the smaller door to one side of the ship entrance.

Around the open space were stations set up for ship repair and refueling, while most of the floor was taken up with the two dozen scarlet and bronze fighters that made up Warren's branch of the fleet. Doors along one side led to med bays for injured pilots, storage for ship parts, and three offices for high ranking members of the fleet. The largest of which, right by the entry way, was North's whenever he worked from this location. The fleet's main headquarters was in the North Pole, and the city built into the ice and mountains there, but this was the second largest.

Training for the day had ended, but a few of the pilots were still there, working on their fighters or talking, when the wind dropped Jack onto the floor. They waved, one or two calling a greeting. Jack's return wave was both to return their greeting and to dismiss the wind that continued to dance and whisper around him, asking questions he didn't have the mental capacity to handle right now. (What else was new?) He jogged a beeline to the black star yacht docked to one side of the hanger. It had been designated its own place in the hanger, right by where the _Sleigh_ docked when North visited Warren territory.

For nearly six months the _Night Fury_ had been docked in the hanger bay, taken out only for flight exercises with North's fleet, and occasionally when either Hiccup or Jack felt the need for a joyride, though they hadn't made a lightspeed jump in all that time. Jack had a feeling that would change very soon.

His intuition thrummed inside him, fueled by pure adrenaline. And his wild heart, which had awakened at Rapunzel's words the night before, was coming fully back to life, surging at the thought of doing something again. Of fighting for something. Or running. It was something he hadn't felt in years. His love of adventure had worn down over time, when they were unable to stop anywhere and rest, since they were all running from something. But now that they had had time to recover, and they had a home… he had missed this.

The _Night Fury_'s ramp was already down when Jack reached it, and a few strides took him up into the ship's familiar entryway. He took a deep breath of the air that smelled like metal, ship oil, Hiccup's pine and leather, Merida's fire and gun oil, and Jack own mint. It all combined into something he would always think of as home, even now he had acknowledged that Warren was where he belonged.

Hiccup and Merida were already in the cockpit, where he guessed they would be. Hiccup sat in the seat closest to the communications relay, while Merida was in the fourth seat that wasn't especially close to anything. After the Atlantis fiasco, when they customized the _Night Fury_ they had designated that seat specifically for Merida. No computers for her to mess with. (Even if she did, there reset disks that had come with the ship, and the customized set Hiccup had burned, were safe among Hiccup's belongings.) The co-pilot/navigator's seat had once been Hiccup's, but had wordlessly become Rapunzel's, and was now left empty.

"You didn't both have to message me," Jack said, holding up his comm as he took his place in the pilot's seat. "One of you was enough."

"I didn't know Merida messaged you," Hiccup said, glancing at his wife, who shrugged to say the feeling was reciprocated.

Jack waved that off, returning the comm to one of his pockets. Within minutes of each other they had both sent him messages to meet them onboard the _Night Fury_.

"Where's Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked, glancing at the empty chair.

Jack shook his head. She had left the war room as soon as the meeting was over, vanishing into the gardens while Jack had been talking to North, Bunnymund and Nightlight.

"You came after us first?" Merida asked.

"You made it sound urgent," Jack shrugged. "I was worried you needed a mediator."

Being back on the _Night Fury_ felt strange, and he realized they were falling back into a pattern. He had thought their conversation in the war room had felt like one of their councils. But with just the three of them, sitting in the dimly lit cockpit, he realized he had almost forgotten exactly what it was like.

"More like we need the deciding vote," Hiccup said with a sigh. He leaned into the back of his chair, looking exhausted.

"You still don't want to go?" Jack didn't really have to ask – he knew the answer. He even knew why Hiccup was hesitating. But it was something that needed to be out in the open.

"I… I need to," Hiccup said. "I know that. I see the difference in you since we came here, and I think, maybe, I want some of the peace you've found. I _need_ that if I'm going to be a father to my daughter." He glanced at Merida, who pressed a hand over her stomach. Ever since the ultrasound had revealed that they were having a girl, they had stopped referring to the unborn child as their baby and instead called it their daughter. If there was a name picked out, Jack wasn't in on it. "But Mer insists on coming."

"No surprise," Jack muttered.

Hiccup smirked, and thankfully Merida let it slide.

"I can't stop her," Hiccup said after a moment, when they were sure Merida wasn't going to fly off the handle, and he looked at Jack again. "But I'm gonna need you, if you're willing to come."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, technically, you're still a newly wed," Hiccup said. "And you have responsibilities here."

"Hey." Jack shook his head. "No – you guys have been there for me when I needed you. My being a Governor and a husband doesn't change that."

"The vote's unanimous then," Merida said.

Jack and Hiccup both look at the empty fourth seat.

"What about Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked. "She didn't look too thrilled in the war room."

"She's not gonna understand," Merida said.

Jack looked down at the short carpet on the floor, his eyes tracing patterns he had traced a thousand times in the past couple years.

#

Political meetings were nothing new. Rapunzel had attended them alongside her father since she was thirteen, when he had started grooming her to take Corona's throne. Everything from council meetings at home in the palace to summits on Pallash I, in the Imperial Palace. She had watched wars rise and political powers fall, all interspersed with the usual trade disputes and petty squabbles.

Something about this had been different, though. It had left her shaken in a way no other meeting in the past seven years had. So much so that she had run for the privacy of the gardens to try and gather her thoughts, rather than waiting for Jack to finish talking to the other Governors. When she asked herself why this was different, she realized it was because none of those previous discussions had been personal.

As long as she had been allowed to speak in meetings, she had argued for peace. Corona hadn't seen a war in generations, either on its surface our with any other planets in the system. And they had always striven for peace. She had helped negotiate settlements between planets and governments, acting as a neutral party. It was something she had gotten so good at that she occasionally received requests from other planets to intervene, or to preside over their peace talks. She had learned early on that it was far easier to negotiate an agreement if both sides wanted peace. Or if there were at least other parties in the room who wanted peace, when it came to larger summit meetings.

Today, for the first time, she had realized she was the only person in the room inclined to argue for peace.

Warren, for all its beauty and peaceful atmosphere, wasn't a peaceful planet; it was one well accustomed to war. The orphans living in the palace were just one piece of evidence that the planet was still recovering from the Nightmare Wars, which had ended five years ago. At least, that was what she had thought – until Jack had told her the wars were an endless cycle. Every generation or so a new Nightmare King would rise, and the war would go on for a few years. The Governors were all warriors, and for good reason. Counsel was for strategy, not peace talks.

Rapunzel kicked at the blades of grass with her bare feet, her brocade slippers on the step next to her. The sunlight that kissed the tops of her feet was warm and gentle, though the breeze took the brunt off the summer heat.

Against an enemy like a Nightmare King, negotiation wouldn't do much good. Just the memory of the battle against Pitch caused her to shudder. But the situation with Berk wasn't like a Nightmare King. Alvin and the Imperials were having negotiations… and Jack, Hiccup and Merida were talking about blazing in to start a way.

Political meetings were nothing new to her, but this had been a different matter entirely. And she didn't know how to handle finding herself so out of her element in a situation she had thought would be familiar.

So she had gone to hide in one of the small lawns tucked among the expansive gardens that spread for acres around Bunnymund's palace. There were a number of areas set up for private conversations, or to sit and enjoy a beautiful day. And this was one of her favorite.

It was set slightly back from the paths that wound their way through the gardens, tucked behind a cluster of lilac bushes, the circular lawn hemmed in by snapdragons, foxgloves, lilies, tulips and irises, and the hydrangea hedge beyond it. The entrance was an ivy draped trellis, and to the back was a wrought iron gazebo with climbing vines creating a veil around it. With the cushioned chairs in the gazebo, it was the perfect place for her to come and read when Jack was in Winter and she didn't have anything to do in the palace or the gardens.

Jack had shown it to her a few days after their wedding. It had been the first time they had left their suite, and they had gone for a walk in the gardens, wanting fresh air but not quite ready to be around other people yet.

The spring rain had arrived without warning, the blue sky suddenly clouding over before it let loose a downpour. They had turned back toward the palace as soon as the clouds started together, but they had already been soaked through, and the rain was getting harder, when Jack pulled her behind the lilac bushes and into the lawn. They had run into the gazebo to wait for a break in the rain, laughing despite their situation. Or maybe because of it.

Once they were under the shelter of the gazebo, Rapunzel hadn't even had time to catch her breath before Jack pulled her into a thorough kiss. And she hadn't protested in the slightest. Once the rain had lessened, she had dragged him out for their shelter to dance with her.

The memory of that day was part of why this was her favorite spot in the garden. (Even the pool didn't quite make it onto her list of favorites, since she and Jack couldn't go swimming now he had his powers back.)

For now there was no sign of rain, though she had heard Bunnymund mention that there probably would be that night. A storm had already hit Dream Sand Island, and it would come in off the coast around sunset. The birds overhead, or in the bushes and trees, created a symphony that was untamed and beautiful.

The breeze carried a waft of cooler air toward her, announcing him a moment before he spoke.

"Are you mad at me?"

She looked over to see Jack leaning one shoulder against the trellis, his stadd held loosesly in one hand.

Rapunzel looked back down at her feet, exhaling all the air from her lungs.

"A little." It hurt to admit, because it was the first time she had ever been mad at him. Over the past four months there had been little things that got on her nerves (was is really that hard to throw clothes into the basket he took them off, instead of on the floor just inside their closet?) But nothing had ever actually upset her. She had known it would eventually happen, but she hadn't seen it coming, and it didn't lessen the affect.

Jack came into the clearing, but stopped a couple feet away from her. A light sheen of frost appeared on the grass with each step he took, but it melted within moments, so only a few drops of dew were left for the ground to drink up.

"Are you gonna tell me what I did?" His tone was careful, the words weighed. When she wasn't upset it was cute how cautious he could be.

Now, though, it frustrated her that he didn't realize why she was upset.

"Jack, you're trying to send Hiccup into a war zone," she said. "What about Merida and the baby?"

"Merida agrees," Jack said. "It will be better for everyone if Hiccuc deals with this before the baby is born."

"He hasn't dealt with it for three years!" Her voice was louder than she intended, and she didn't miss the surprise in Jack's eyes before his defenses went up.

"No, he's been running for three years," Jack said.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, trying to regain the control she had worked so hard to build when her father had first brought her into the world of politics. "Why is it so important _now_? I understand that an alliance between Berk and the New Empire isn't in anyone's best interests. But is it really worth risking his life when he had a wife and child to worry about?"

"Yes."

The answer, so sure and without hesitation, took her aback. His tone left no room for argument, and his gaze was steadfast, almost hard.

Rapunzel shook her head, looking back down at her bare feet.

A moment's tense silence passed between them. In her peripheral she could see the aura of frost on the ground spreading as his body temperature dropped, taking the air with it; though it wasn't enough to erode the summer warmth.

"Last night you were the one who said we should be out there helping," Jack said, his voice only a little calmer when the broke the silence.

"I didn't say we should get involved in a way!" That was the furthest thing from her mind when she had made the suggested.

"That's what the _Night Fury_ does, Rapunzel," he said, shaking his head. "We get involved. And it's not peaceful."

"Merida wasn't pregnant then," Rapunzel reminded. Why was it so hard for him to grasp that? She knew he cared about his friends' and their unborn child. So why wasn't he thinking about what was in the child's best interest?

"And Hiccup should have taken care of it sooner," Jack said, his voice conceding. "That doesn't change that it needs to be done."

"But why Hiccup? And why now?"

"Because it's his responsibility."

"And the baby isn't?"

"It is!" Jack said, voice rising in frustration. "But—Merida's right: you don't understand."

"What don't I understand?"

Another tense moment before Jack sighed.

"Hiccup can't be a father to his daughter until he does this."

"Why not?"

They weren't shouting – neither of them was the shouting type. But Rapunzel could feel her own anger just below the surface, and she could see it flashing in Jack's eyes as he struggled to find words to answer her question.

Jack ran a hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at her. The aura of cold around him continued to spread. Rapunzel felt a sudden chill around her feet and pulled them back from the ever thickening layer of frost that unfurled in a fern like pattern from his feet. Her small gasp finally made him look over, and he sighed.

"Sorry," he muttered. But the frost didn't recede. "I need to cool down."

Without another word the wind filled the clearing, picking him up and carrying him high above her head.

After a moment the wind dissipated, and the temperature began to climb back up as the sun warmed it. Though clouds had finally begun to appear in the south, coming up from the coast. The rains would reach the palace soon.

She looked down at the frost now melting in the sun. For Jack, whose temperature ran icy, "warm up" might have been a more accurate phrase.

#

"Where's Frostbite?" Merida asked, leaning around the open doorway of the suite.

Rapunzel had left the door open both for Jack, and so she could hear the rain beyond the walkway outside. The sound of raindrops hitting the roof, the ground, and the window pane was a stacatto melody that helped take her mind off her own thoughts. The wind whistled over the palace's decorative architecture, creating a harmony that was at once beautiful and mournful. Occasionally the rumble of thunder would come in as the percussion line, accented with flashes of lightning.

(And in part because she didn't know where the snow fox was, so it was easier to leave it open so he could come in when he was ready.)

She sat on the edge of the bed, drying excess bath water from her hair. If she had though her twenty feet of hair was time consuming, the seventy feet she now had took at least an hour to do anything with. She sometimes thought about cutting it, but didn't dare dwell too much on that idea. Her healing powers, which she was finally getting control of with Bunnymund's help, was clearly connected with her hair. She didn't want to risk cutting it only to discover she had lost those powers. And a part of her still associated her hair with her nobility.

She only glanced at Merida before she turned her eyes back to her hair. "I haven't seen him since earlier."

Merida paused, coming to lean a shoulder against the doorway, the same way Jack had leaned against the trellis earlier. One of the many idiosyncrasies the three friends shared. Some time Rapunzel could easily tell which had been the originator of any one habit. This one was clearly Jack. Something about how naturally he did it, and how both the others just seemed to shadow him.

"The two of ya had a fight?" Merida guessed.

Rapunzel nodded, still not fully wanting to admit it.

"Don't worry too much," Merida said, her tone lighter than Rapunzel would have liked at the moment. "When Jack needs to cool off he tends to vanish until he's worked it all out. I never figured out how he could vanish for days at a time when we were in hyperspace."

"Days?" Rapunzel asked, her throat tightening at the thought. She couldn't imagine not seeing Jack for days – especially since he had a whole planet to roam, rather than just a star yacht.

From her small alcove in the corner Baby Tooth chirped, but Rapunzel could understand her even less than Jack did, so she couldn't tell if the fairy was distressed or trying to comfort her.

"When we first met," Merida clarified. She snickered as she came to sit on the edge of the bed next to Rapunzel. "You're glad ya didn't meet him then."

"So he's said." She finished squeezing water from the ends of her hair and tossed the soaking towel into the laundry basket by the closet door. "How can you be all right with Hiccup going? What if something happens to him? Or to you, or the baby?"

"We don't think like that," Merida said, her tone a strange calm that Rapunzel couldn't understand. "When ya live the way we did, runnin' from place to place, usually hangin' on by the skin of our teeth, you stop worryin' about what might happen and focus on what needs to happen."

Rapunzel had picked up the hairbrush that rest on her bedside table, but Merida gently took it from her hands and went to work on the ends of Rapunzel's hair as she spoke, brushing out the strands.

"I don't understand that," Rapunzel said, watching Merida work the brush through her hair. With seventy feet of it, she had learned to just be grateful whenever anyone helped her brush it.

"I warned Jack that ya wouldn't," Merida said.

"Oh." That answered the question she had been wondering all evening.

"You grew up in the upper circles," Merida went on. "Most people you know probably didn't grow up fightin' to survive. Not the way Jack and Hiccup have."

That was true. It was part of why Rapunzel had been drawn to Jack when she first met him. He was so unlike anyone she had ever met. All three of them were.

"Jack had finally made peace with his past. And you're the lucky one – you showed up and suddenly he was willin' to apologize for his mistakes and make it right. I had to wait until I was pregnant for Hiccup to realize he needed to set things right."

"But the whole reason you chose to stay here on Warren was so you could have a place to raise your daughter," Rapunzel said.

"I didn't want to raise my child on a spaceship," Merida snorted. "But this is worth the risk."

"How can it be worth it?"

Merida thought for a moment, still brushing. "Hiccup can't live in the here and now with everything he left undone on Berk."

Rapunzel shook her head slightly, still not understanding.

"She means I won't be able to give my daughter my full attention until I make peace with my past."

They both looked over in the door way – one arm braced against the door jam. His green eyes were grim as he looked at Merida.

"I just talked to Jack and the Governors," he said. "We'll leave in the morning."

"You know I'm comin', right?"

He smile dryly, his expression softening with affection as he looked at Merida. "I know I can't stop you. Make sure your sniper rifle is ready, though. I'd rather you stay out of the line of fire."

"I'm not in a state to be runnin' around, am I?"

"Not really." Hiccup's grin was weak, but it was there. "I'm still not sorry."

Merida grabbed a pillow (Jack's) and threw it at Hiccup with one hand, though it feel several feet short of the mark. "Men!"

"I'm gonna go help Jack prep the ship," Hiccup said, not responding to that. He ducked into the room, picking up the pillow. He leaned down to kiss Merida as he dropped it back onto the bed. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"'kay," Merida murmured, her momentary outburst softening. "I'm goin' to bed soon."

Hiccup touched her stomach gently, as though bidding a silent goodnight to his daughter, then he kissed Merida's cheek before he left. "Good night, Rapunzel."

"Good night." It wasn't very enthusiastic even to her own ears.

When Hiccup was gone, she looked back at Merida, who had returned to brushing. "You're really okey with this?"

The thought Merida put into her response was almost uncharacteristic. "It's not like we can put it off any longer."

There was a logic to the answer, though not the kind Rapunzel fully understood. Even Hiccup's answer didn't fully make sense to her. His daughter was there, weeks away from being born. How could a war he had run away from three years ago take precedence over that?

They didn't say much more after that, though Merida finished helping her brush her hair before she went to her and Hiccup's suite down the hall.

There was no point in Rapunzel waiting up for Jack. If he was prepping the ship he wouldn't be back for at least two or three hours; and she didn't know what to say to him. So she went to bed herself, though she doubted she would get much sleep. Not with all her thoughts and concerns.

The snow fox trotted in just as she went to turn the light out and close the door. He didn't even acknowledge her as he shook out his white fur and jumped up onto the bed. Shaking her head Rapunzel shot the door and climbed into bed. The fox padded its way over the down comforter a couple times before it found its way beneath the sheets and curled up next to her belly – a warm puff of white fur that rose and fell with shallow breaths.

A few hours later she was roused when Jack came in, though he did his best to be quiet, waving a hand to quiet Baby Tooth when she chirped a greeting. She wasn't fully awake – just enough to realize he was there; not enough to say anything, or even to roll over while he changed. (Judging from the sound it seemed as though his clothes actually made it into the laundry basket this time.)

The snow fox didn't budge from its place next to her stomach, even when Jack climbed into bed. It was the first time they had slept facing away from each other, but she was asleep again before she could dwell on it.

When she woke up the next morning, Jack and the snow fox were both gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**I feel a little frustrated that it's taken so long for the gang to get off Warren, since in **_**Among The Stars**_** they had rescued Rapunzel and were off world within four chapters – complete with space battle. But I hope you guys understand that I wanted to get everything set up before they leave so we can dive in one we get to Berk. **

**I tried to describe the **_**Night Fury**_** – I really did! But I'm not very good at describing star craft, apparently. *gross sobbing* But I have a sketch of it that I will be posting to my tumblr page. **

_Chapter 4_

"You don't have to come," Jack said quietly, glancing up from his backpack as he set one of his shirts into it. Rapunzel was in the closet, pulling down her simplest clothes. (Did she have pants? He wasn't sure, since he didn't think he had ever seen her wear them.)

He had barely slept the night before, too distracted by preparations for today's journey, and frustration over his argument with Rapunzel, and the distance he felt from her while she slept. He had every intention of collapsing into his bed on the _Night Fury_ once they were in hyperspace. When he had come back from a last check over Winter, he hadn't known what he was going to say to her, though he had been trying to think up a goodbye that would get him back in her good graces. He certainly hadn't expected to find her already packing a second, smaller backpack.

"Merida's going," Rapunzel said.

"Merida's the best marksman I know," Jack countered.

"She's also eight months pregnant."

It was too close to their argument, and despite the challenge in her voice Jack wasn't willing to go there. Not right now.

"She's seen war," Jack said carefully. "You haven't."

"I faced a Nightmare King," she reminded.

Well, there was no denying that. Thought that had been where on Warren, where the unexpected manifestation of her powers had turned the tide of that fight.

He remembered when they had been on Apfel, nearly three years ago, trying to keep Snow White safe in the middle of a civil war. Snow had followed their orders to the best of her ability, doing her best to stay out of the way. But the whole job had felt nearly impossible, because her inexperience with both war and survival made her a burden. And they had avoided the war as much as possible. This time, they would be diving right into the war.

Rapunzel had no training, and away from Warren's atmosphere she would have little to no means of self defense. Even if she had her powers, they wouldn't do much against an enemy that wasn't drawing their power from Shadows. Their fight against Pitch Black had been a battle – and one with blessedly few casualties. The closest to death any of them had come was Jack himself.

He didn't mind giving his life for her. But in a war, he wouldn't be able to focus on protecting her. Hiccup was going to need him to function as a soldier.

He saw all that in his mind. But the stubbornness in Rapunzel's green eyes told him he wouldn't be able to phrase it in a way that would convince her.

That was what scared him.

"Rapunzel." He put a hand over hers as she put a folded dress into her purple backpack.

She stilled, but didn't look up.

Jack sighed, closing his eyes as he tried to find the right words. "This isn't – I'd rather you stay here."

He had known she wouldn't like it, but the force of the glare she turned on him forced him to take a step back.

"You can't do that to me, Jack," she said, shrugging her hand out from under his.

Jack wanted to point out that if she didn't want them to go he didn't understand why she was so adamant to go. But he didn't want to argue with her. Not when he knew what they were about to get themselves into – and just how little time they might have. War was something he had gotten used to in the nine years since he had woken up in Winter.

"I'm going," she said, zipping her backpack closed with an air of finality.

"All right," Jack said, nodding. "Fine. Just…"

Her glare turned back on him, clearly expecting some kind of condition she intended to take issue with.

But Jack just sighed. "Just stay safe. If Hiccup, Merida, or I, tells you to do something, please just do it. It's how we've all survived, and I don't want to lose you."

Rapunzel's glare finally melted away, her expression softening as she looked up at him. Just enough for him to know she wasn't going to fight any orders on principle. Her hand lifted hesitantly, and he thought she was going to touch his arm.

Before she could, there was a knock on the door to their rooms, through the living room beyond their bedroom. They both took a half step back as Jack called for whoever it was to come in. They could see the front door through their doorway, so he saw Hiccup lean around the door.

"We're just about ready," Hiccup said.

"Right." Jack grabbed the black leather jacket he had hung over the bedpost and shrugged into it.

He hadn't worn it since they had gone to Corona six months earlier, but the fit was familier as he adjusted the collar and cuffs. His gauntlet was, as always, in place on his left forearm. His fingerless gloves were in one of the pockets, carious tools the trade tucked into the pockets of his cargo pants. As he clipped his gun belt in place for the first time in months, he remembered all the times he had worn these same things into battle before, and he felt prepared. A psychological response, but a strong one all the same.

Out of habit he went to grab his staff from where it leaned against the wall, but he stopped himself in time and slung his backpack on instead.

The staff wouldn't do him any good on Berk.

#

The early morning air was moist and cool, dew thick on the grass. The rising sun save everything a golden tint through the haze of the night fog as it was rolled back. For Jack it was a comfortable temperature, but the others were bundled up in coats to ward off the cold as they made the brief trek to the landing pad. Before going to bed the night before he and Hiccup had brought the _Night Fury_ down from the hanger bay.

It was strange to think how, six months earlier, he had landed on the same pad, terrified of being kicked back to the stars, but desperate enough to apologize.

The brightening light brought out the frosted sheen of the _Night Fury's_ black hull, while the dew that clung to it glittered like a million tiny diamonds. The sleek star yacht, with its subtly curved hull, looked more like a luxury vehicle than anything else. It's beautiful appearance masked just how strong its bite could be. It's weapons array (illegal by New Empire standards) was all concealed (another illegal feature). The Striker line came with some of the best standard speed and shields, but they had customized it until it put just about any other ship in the galaxy to shame.

And it had kept Jack alive so many times, he would probably always have a special spot in his heart for the ship.

Hiccup and Merida were already there, as were the other Governors. Merida looked ready to fall asleep, which Hiccup and North were talking together. Thoothiana and Bunnymund were having a discussion, while Katherine and Nightlight came over to meet him and Rapunzel as they reached the landing pad.

"Stay safe," Nightlight said, in his quiet, steady voice, giving Jack a quick hug.

"I plan to," Jack assured, grinning.

"You're Jack Frost," Nightlight said, with a wry grin. "You always _plan_ to be okay. The question is whether or not you'll follow that plan." His tone and expression were too serious for Jack to make some kind of wise crack.

He only nodded as they wordlessly clasped hand, the way they had countless times growing up together.

Jack looked at Katherine. She and Rapunzel held hands as they spoke in hushed whispers. From there expressions she was clearly trying to reassure Rapunzel, though of what he wasn't sure. After a moment she looked over at him.

"You'll keep an eye on Winter for me?" he asked. Her ability to speak to animals (especially the coves) made her the only one who could reasonably substitute for him.

"Of course. Though…" she looked pointedly at something over Jack's shoulder as she trailed off, making him look back to see what had caught her attention.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," he muttered, as an all too familiar white wolf trotted out of the tree line on the far side of the landing pad.

Isolfr, the alpha male of the main pack that lived in the Winter Woods, was not Jack's favorite person by any means. He couldn't hold back his glower as the wolf nuzzled first up to Rapunzel, then to Kathrine. Sometimes he wondered if Isolfr just to annoy him.

"What are you doing here?" Jack really hoped it was just some kind of formal goodbye the wolf was duty bound to pay. Bust as Nightlight had already pointed out: he was Jack Frost. The universe never let him off that easily.

"_I will be coming with you."_

"No, you will not," Jack said, louder than intended. Everyone turned at the sound. Katherine, the only other person who could understand Isolfr, was frowning.

"_You will require looking after,"_ Isolfr said simply. _"It is my job to do so."_

He really wished the wolf didn't always sound so sensible. His voice bore very little emotion, so everything out of him mouth sounded painfully logical.

"I did fine without you for five years," Jack reminded, fighting against the inevitability in Isoflr's tone.

"_I am still coming."_

"There are a hundred reasons why that is really not a good idea." Jack waved off the wind that had begun to ask too many questions as it felt his rising agitation.

"_Such as?"_

"I lose all my powers when I leave the atmosphere," Jack reminded. "What if I can't talk to you. Worse, what if you don't understand me? We've had wild animals onboard before – it was not pretty."

"We're not doing that against," Hiccup said, interrupting a conversation he was probably getting the gist of, though with more care than Jack bothered with.

"_That will not happen,"_ Isolfr said.

"You want to spend four days on the ship?" Jack gestured at the _Night Fury_. At fifty-five meters in length, it was spacious enough for three or four people comfortably, eight to ten a lot less comfortably. (Twenty was the most they had ever gotten onboard, and that had been an emergency.) A wolf not used to confines would probably find it torturous.

Isolfr didn't answer, but his air made it clear he found that question unimportant.

Jack shook his head as he turned away, adjusting the straps of his back pack. "Not happening."

"_And what of your mate?"_

That was enough to pull Jack up short.

He would never understand how the wolf knew him so well that he could always pull just the right card to make Jack rethink his stance. It was exceedingly annoying that just when he thought he had won, Isolfr always turned the table with just a few words.

Slowly he turned his head to look back over his shoulder to look at the wold.

"_You will not be able to protect,"_ Isolfr said. _"You already know that. It is why you are afraid."_

"And your point?"

"_I can keep her safe when you cannot."_

Jack turned to fully look at the wolf now. They had never gotten along. But Isolfr clearly had a soft spot when it came to Rapunzel. Still… "You would do that?"

"Do what?" Merida asked.

Isolfr bent his head, and Jack knew wolf body language well enough to recognize submission.

"Jack." Hiccup's tone was warning.

Jack looked at Katherine, the only person who could give an opinion without him recounting the conversation.

"He has a point."

"_Of course I do,"_ Isolfr said, a thin note of indignation creeping into his voice.

"What's goin' on?" Merida asked.

Jack sighed. "Isolfr's coming."

"Are you sure?" Bunnymund asked, looking between Jack, Katherine, and the wolf.

"Nope." Jack adjusted the straps of the backpack. "But we have a deal."

No one argued with that.

Toothiana gave him a brief hug, while Baby Tooth pouted that she couldn't come with them.

"Keep your head straight, Frostbite" Bunnymund said, clapping a paw on Jack's shoulder. "And stay safe."

"I will," Jack said. He glanced over to where Toothiana and Rapunzel were saying goodbye, and he saw his wife smile a little at something the fairy queen said.

"You will be fine," North said confidently, coming up beside him.

"It's not me I'm worried about," Jack admitted, with another glance at Rapunzel. "She's not a warrior, North."

"Rapunzel is stronger than she realizes," North said, his voice low, in a way Jack had learned to pay attention to. "Stronger than _you_ realize."

Jack frowned, wanting to believe it… but he remembered the way she had cried in the shower when he had hidden her from the Imperial search onboard the _Night Fury_. Ever since then the need to protect her had driven everything he did. How was he supposed to think of her in any other way? But knowing what they were about to face, he desperately wanted to believe Rapunzel would surprise him.

North saw his doubt, though, and he smiled knowingly. "I feel it, Jack. In my belly."

That got a reluctant smile from Jack as he looked up at his mentor.

"Stay safe, Jack Frost."

"Thanks."

"_The North Governor is correct," _Isolfr said, as he followed Jack up the ramp, into the belly of the ship that the others had already gone up into. _"She may surprise all of you."_

Jack didn't respond, instead raising the ramp and sealing it. The last fingers of the breeze that made it to him complained that he was leaving – it didn't like losing a plaything, but he waved it off.

Once the air lock was sealed, Isolfr followed Jack up one level and down the hall to the cockpit.

Rapunzel was already seated in the navigator's chair, the holographic star charts pulled up while she calculated a course to Berk.

He didn't know what to say, and his mind was already going into pilot mode, so he nodded to her as he took his seat. He kicked off his boots as he ran through the preflight system, falling into the familiar ritual. Shoes were something he would have to get re-accustomed to, though. He hadn't worn them in months.

"Set a course that will bring us out of hyperspace out of range of Berk's sensors," he said, flicking the toggle switches over his head to bring the engine to life. "I don't want them to know we're there."

"Should we circumvent Imperial space?"

"If it's not too far out of our way," Jack said. "Isolfr, stop sniffing things and lay down." He gestured to the space under the control panel.

The wolf growled in his throat at the order, but went into the small cubby and curled up in the space. Jack had always known he would find a use for it….

"Estimated time: three days," Rapunzel said. "It will take us through Roman space, but the one stop is out of the way."

"It's fine."

With the ship fully online, Jack fired the thrusters, lifting off from the landing pad and slicing through the air as it ascended the levels of Warren's atmosphere. The sky darkened the further they want, stars starting to peak out until they were faced with the sparkling back vastness of space.

Out among the stars. As a part of Jack embraced the sensation – the possibility of going anywhere – he wanted to tell Rapunzel that she had been right when she said he was too wild at heart to stay on Warren all the time. But judging from their fight, he wasn't sure it was a good thing to say.

"Course set."

Jack looked at the screen to his right, where the course she had inlaid appeared, and he doubled checked it before hitting the 'accept' button.

"Hang on," he called through the comm, so Hiccup and Merida would have a chance to brace themselves wherever they were on the ship.

After what felt like a reasonable pause, he pulled the lever on that dash to activate the hyper drive.

For a moment time seemed to freeze and expand to infinity as the stars in front of them stretched into burning white lines. Then, just as it started to feel as though the sensation would never end, the ship lurched forward into the every shifting tunnel of molten light that was hyperspace.

Under the control board Isolfr whined in displeasure at the ship's sudden lurch. Jack actually felt sorry for him. That was why he had told the wolf to lay down against the wall, since he couldn't be strapped in.

Unstrapping himself, Jack crouched down in front of the wolf. "You okay?"

Isolfr opened one blue eye to look at him with obvious indignation. _"I will never understand why you humans enjoy space travel."_

Jack grinned dryly.

Already he felt his body temperature rising as Warren was left behind, his inner frost not melting so much as vanishing. The constant swirling pressure of his powers inside of him left an absence like a cavity in a tooth. Thankfully, he was almost more used to that absence than he was to actually having his powers, so he was able to adjust quickly.

He could still understand Isolfr, though, and he was resolved to be grateful for small blessings.

They would need all the blessings they could get once they reached Berk.


	5. Chapter 5

**All right, starting with this chapter there are going to be some spoilers for HTTYD2. Hopefully you guys will like the character appearance in this chapter, since I wasn't expecting to use him. But he's definitely grown on me, and it turns out I like writing him. Let me know if I got his voice right!**

_Chapter 5_

The galley light was already on when Rapunzel reached it, sometime during the fifth hour. It shone through the doorway like a beacon in the dimmed night-cycle lighting of the hallway. When she looked inside she saw Hiccup sitting at the table with a steaming mug in front of him as his eyes examined the patterns in the table's surface. His expression was intense, causing her to hesitate in the doorway, debating if a cup of tea was worth disturbing him over.

She had almost resolved in just going back to her room, but before she could turn back to her room Hiccup look up.

"Hey."

"Hi," she said, feeling awkward. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

Hiccup shrugged it off. "You okay?"

No, she wasn't. She had woken up to an empty bed, and though it had been that way for the past three nights, it still hurt. For a while she had tried to get back to sleep, but that had proved futile. But she didn't want to say any of that, when Hiccup clearly had enough on his mind without adding her problems.

"I just wanted to get some tea," she said.

"The water's still hot," he said, waving toward the tea kettle on the stove unit. "You can join me, if you want. I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to be alone."

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Rapunzel asked, as she entered the galley and went over to the stove.

"I've been remembering things I'd rather forget," Hiccup said, his tone turning dark as he spoke. "I thought I _had_ forgotten."

It was something Rapunzel could understand all too well. Memories of the Tower would creep up on her in quiet moments, no matter how hard she tried to put it behind her. They came in the form of both nightmares, and vivid recollections that kept her up when she tried to sleep. Gothel's words would echo in her skull until she didn't know how to fight against them. For some reason, no matter how many times Jack told her she was beautiful, it was never enough to shield her from memories of Gothel calling her plain, or even ugly.

She poured herself a cup of tea and sat down across from Hiccup, though they were silent for several minutes while she blew on her tea, waiting for it to cool.

"Is it hard to sleep without him?" Hiccup asked suddenly, looking up from the table that he had begun to examine again.

The question took her aback, mostly because she had been lost in her own thoughts, and wasn't sure she had heard the question correctly. "What?"

"Sorry, I guess it's a personal question," Hiccup said sheepishly, looking into his own tea.

Personal questions weren't unusual for her. While most of the court gossips on Corona hadn't been brave enough to ask her anything outright, the council reserved the right to know every aspect of her life, and she had learned not to draw too much attention to herself just to avoid their inquisitions. On Warren privacy was highly respected, but most people – the Governors especially – they were open and honest. While Jack, Hiccup and Merida, after three years living in such close quarters, were so used to a complete lack of privacy that they didn't try to keep secrets.

She was becoming accustomed to a combination of the two.

"It's just, when I try to sleep without Merida, I feel as though part of me is miss," Hiccup explained, when she didn't respond. "I was just wondering if that's why you're up."

She bit her lip, but slowly nodded. "Yes."

Three nights without Jack beside her, and the ache of longing kept her up a little more each night. When they had traveled on the _Night Fury_ before she had never been able to keep tabs of where he slept, since they had obviously had separate rooms, but she had noticed that he seemed to spend most of his time in the cockpit. Maybe this was just what he did – but she couldn't avoid the question of whether or not he was avoiding her. She hadn't dared to go to the cockpit to ask, afraid their fight would be renewed.

Maybe that was the same reason why he _stayed_ in the cockpit.

"He's not avoiding you," Hiccup said, no doubt reading the fall of her expression. "He's just trying to give you space."

Rapunzel nodded as she looked back into her cup, trying to believe it. But unable to fully shake any lingering doubt.

"I didn't even realize I was so used to having him there," she said, squeezing her mug.

"It's like it happens in the first few days. The first time Merida and I slept apart was a couple weeks after we got married. I couldn't sleep I missed her so much." He shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

"It scares me," Rapunzel admitted. "I realized just how much I need him. Be he's such a lone wolf, I don't think he needs me."

"Believe me, he does," Hiccup said. "He's spent the past four days sulking in the cockpit."

In a way she hoped that was true. Not that she wanted Jack to sulk, but the thought of she and Jack being so unbalanced terrified her. With his wild heart, the thought he might get bored of her had always been a nagging worry, but even more so the past few days.

Hiccup's datapod, sitting on the table, lit up suddenly with an alert for an incoming message. Inside the other worldly tunnel of hyperspace it could only have come from Jack or Merida. Hiccup's fingers flicked over the screen to open the message, then read over the line of text. "We'll come out of hyperspace in about an hour."

"Oh," was all she could think to say, surprised by the sudden nervousness that settled in her stomach.

Hiccup finished his tea and stood up. "There's a few things I have to take care of before we get there." He rinsed his mug and put it into the dishwasher before he turned to leave the galley, but he paused in the doorway. "Rapunzel."

"Yes?"

"For a guy… we tend to compartmentalize. Jack is focused on what's coming, but doesn't mean he misses you any less."

"Thank you," she said. Only years of political training gave her that polite response, when she didn't know what else to see.

Hiccup's tight smile told her her doubt had still shown on her face.

#

"_We are almost there?"_ Isolfr asked, and Jack thought he actually heard relief in the wolf's tone.

"Almost there," Jack confirmed, flipping a few toggle switches on the dash to ensure the sublight engines were ready to take over once they dropped out of hyperspace.

He had to admit, at the moment he sympathized with the wolf. After four days, most of which had had spent in the cockpit, Jack was more than ready to get off the ship and breathe fresh air. Isolfr at least had been free to roam the ship, and he seemed to have been dividing his time between Jack and Rapunzel. Jack had only dared to come out except for trips to the galley for food, and in the sleep cycle when he wanted the halls of the ship to burn of energy. He wanted to go to his room and just lay down next to Rapunzel – ease some of the ache in his heart from being away from her just for the past few days. He was pretty sure he was going through withdrawals, he missed her so much. Her scent, her touch, her voice, just the sound of her breath as she slept. Everything about her seemed to have become a necessity for him to live.

But he still didn't know what to say to her, so he figured it was best to give her space. Once they landed, he would probably be busy enough it would distract him from the all-pervasive loneliness.

"How long do we have?" Hiccup asked, coming into the cockpit and taking the copilot's seat.

"About eight minutes." Jack finished the engine rundowns. "We should be just outside sensor range."

"Provided half the Imperial fleet isn't there already," Hiccup muttered.

With all the squadrons they had all over the galaxy enforcing their new rules, the New Empire couldn't afford to send much force to Berk. But Jack didn't doubt there would be at least one Imperial ship.

"That's why you've got me," he reminded. "Imperials or not, how are we going to get to the planet's surface? Let alone find your parents."

"If there's no Imperials we'll vanish until we're in the cloud layer," Hiccup said. "Then I'll send a message on the coded frequencies."

"The camouflage?"

"It's our best bet."

The _Night Fury_ was a Berk Strike class – stealth was one of the best things about the Strike class. The black hull was coated in a substance that gave it an opalescent sheen when sunlight hit it, but when it was activated it reflected back sensors. Any sensors that caught them would still register that something was there, but it wouldn't be able to get any information on what they were. It didn't work on eyes or cameras, though. Still, it was enough to get them onto most planets when they needed stealth.

Hiccup had left his seat and was in the communication station, composing a message and finding the frequencies.

"You need to stop avoiding Rapunzel when you're confused," Hiccup said suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "It's a really bad habit."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but found he didn't know what to say. It was true, but he was so focused on mentally preparing for Berk, trying to talk to his wife had slipped down his list of priorities. Not because he liked things the way they were, obviously. But because being a pilot and a fighter was a lot easier for him that emotional conversations. Especially with all that rode on a conversation with Rapunzel. He was procrastination. Just as he had on their flight to Corona six months earlier.

Before he could say anything the countdown of the hyperspace jump ticked down to zero. The ship shuddered as it dropped out, molten colors turning to burning white star lines that snapped back into pinpricks of light.

Berk hung in space before them; blue, grey and green, shrouded in a cloud layer that varied from wispy white to layers of heavy grey.

"No Imperials," Hiccup said, sounding surprised.

That was more than Jack had hoped for. Despite knowing how thin the fleet must be spread, he had expected at least a carrier.

"There's no ships on this side," Jack said, frowning as he checked the sensor read out. They had come out on the planet's night side, but on a planet where so much centered around flight and ship construction, he had expected a couple ships at least. Late night joy riders, patrols from the Dragon fleet, customers leaving late… but there was no sign of anyone, save for the few cities below. (The tribes of Berk had never gotten over old rivalries long enough to establish major cities. It was a miracle they managed to have a planet wide corporation, but even that was divided into the tribes in a complex business plan Jack didn't pretend to understand.)

"The war must be worse than we thought," Hiccup said.

Jack heard the keys click that indicated Hiccup was activating the camouflage particles on the ship's hull.

"Head for the cloud layer to the west," Hiccup said. "I'll start broadcasting was soon as we're inside."

The biggest drawback to the camouflage was that you couldn't broadcast while it was activated. The signals got messed up, or something like that.

There was a second, smaller shudder when they entered Berk's atmosphere, arcing westward under Jack's guidance, and towards the heavy canopy of clouds that hung over that part of the planet.

Jack hated flying in clouds. The sensors became less reliable surrounded by so much perspiration, and his own eyes became virtually useless. Intuition could only help so much in a situation like this. So he avoided cloud flying as much as possible. Unfortunately, in their line of work, it tended to be unavoidable.

"Not to crash the party or anything, but what happens if we don't reach the resistance?" he asked, eyes not leaving the viewport as they slipped into the clouds. It wouldn't do much good, since all he could see was grayish white, but still he refused to look away. If there was anything else in the clouds, though, he would have only a split second to react.

"Then we'll figure something out," Hiccup said.

Who was Jack – Mr. Break-into-the-most-secure-building-in-the-Empire-without-a-plan – to argue with that?"

A small window popped up on Jack's screen, allowing him to read the message Hiccup was broadcasting, along with the frequencies he was broadcasting it on. He glanced down just long enough to translate the code. Hiccup had taught it to him when they had first started working together, and they had used it whenever necessary over the years.

It was a simple, looping message. Vague enough Alive and his men probably wouldn't understand right away even if they had already cracked the code.

"Now we wait," Hiccup said.

"My least favorite part," Jack muttered. He glanced under the dash, to the cubby Isolfr seemed to have claimed as his own, and saw that the wolf seemed to be asleep. If he was faking it, Jack didn't especially care at the moment.

They were silent for a few tense minutes, before Jack broke it.

"Are you scare?" he asked, remembering how he had felt returning to Warren six months before.

Hiccup snorted. "Terrified. I haven't heard anything for four years. I don't know who's survived or who's dead. I'm not sure which would be worse: facing my dad, or finding out he's gone."

"He told you to leave," Jack said. "He probably didn't expect you to come back."

"'A chief protects his own,'" Hiccup said – a phrase he had said before. "That's what he always taught me, and I still left people in the middle of a war I started."

"Maybe – but you've looked after us," Jack said. "Me and Merida – you've been our chief. And you've kept us alive, so I think you've done a pretty good job."

Hiccup looked over at him with a grateful quirk of his lip. "Thanks, Jack. But I'm pretty sure you were the one keeping us alive. We never would have gotten off Apfel if it weren't for you."

Jack shrugged. "Where would any chief be without his faithful right hand?"

"Says the Governor of Winter," Hiccup snorted. "You were banished, and you still went back before I did."

"Five years to your three," Jack said. "No, I didn't. And I only did it for Rapunzel."

"I had to impregnate my wife," Hiccup said, and they both knew Jack couldn't one-up him on that one. "Rapunzel is right: this is really bad timing."

Jack exhaled in frustration at the reminder; both of his wife, and the situation. Despite how much he knew this needed to be done, it didn't actually sit well with him that they were taking the eight-months-pregnant Merida.

"If you had gone back when you got married, I never would have met Rapunzel," Jack said. "I never would have gone back."

"You think maybe it's fate?" Hiccup asked. "That it played out like this?"

Jack considered that for several moments. "I'm not sure what I believe about fate."

"Me, either," Hiccup said.

They were silent for a few more minutes, and once more it was Jack that broke it.

"How long do we wait?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "It's been five minutes. Play a game, or something."

Taking out his datapod, Jack skimmed through the game apps until he found one that caught his interest. A simple, almost mind numbing pilot game, but entertaining enough to keep him occupied when there was time to kill. It was supposed to help improve piloting skills (and it was similar to several simulations he had done in the Academy), but Jack didn't think it did much good.

He had made it through levels 23-25, and was about to fail level 26 _again_, when the comm chimed.

He looked up, not caring when he lost again to an obstacle he could have avoided. He was too focused on reading the words that had come across the screen.

_Incoming voice transmission on frequency 1138._

Hiccup opened the comm channel just as it pinged, accepting the communication.

"This is _The Hopeful Puffin III_," Hiccup said.

Jack groaned at the name.

But from the other end there was a moment of stunned silence – one Jack remembered from his return to Warren. Then:

"Well soil my britches," a male voice said, sounding truly awed. "I must admit, you were one of the last people we expected."

"Yeah, it's been a while," Hiccup said, sounding sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head.

"This is Eret, son of Eret, on the _Stormfly_. I can escort you to base at your leisure."

Jack's attention was fully caught at _Stormfly_, suddenly realizing just how much he wanted to see the fighter that had been the namesake of his first home away from Warren. He was so busy thinking about that, he didn't even spare a thought to be surprised at a Viking using the word "leisure".

"Eret, my parents—"

"Will both be there," Eret said. Even though the comm Jack could hear the man's smile as he gave what he knew would be good news. "Fishlegs and Camicazi as well."

Hiccup's relief was visible as he fell back into his seat. His parents, and his two best friends, were still alive.

"Are you alone?" Eret asked.

"No, there are three people onboard," Hiccup said, though his tone was still slightly dazed, clearly taking in the good news he hadn't dared to hope for. They all knew that eventually there would be a list of the dead Hiccup would have to face, but it didn't include those four names. "I'll vouch for them."

"I should hope so," Jack grinned.

"Jack will handle the piloting," Hiccup said, standing up. "I'm going to go help the others. Jack, Eret son of Eret. Eret, Jack Frost."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Eret said over the line. "Keep your lights off for now. Best to avoid attention."

Hence why the _Night Fury_'s lights were already off, but Jack decided to let it go as he brought the ship out of the cloud layer, into the late night darkness. Gaps in the cloud layer allowed crystal clear starlight to shine down on the vast ocean. Jack eyes it warily, hoping there weren't any sea monsters down there…

Returning his attention straight ahead, he saw the silhouette of a one-man fighter, but without more lighting he couldn't make out any of the details.

The _Stormfly_ arced around to fly north west, and Jack angled the _Night Fury_ in the same direction.

"I can't send you the coordinates incase we're being monitored," Eret said, "so you'll just have to follow. Might be a good idea to turn on your camouflage."

Jack hit the keys, and couldn't feel any difference, but the screen assured him the camouflage was back up.

They flew a berth around the islands they passed, and then flew over open water for several minutes before a shadow loomed up on the horizon, growing bigger as they flew right toward it.

It took jagged shape, moonlight illuminating edges that stuck out in every direction. It wasn't an island, really. Jack couldn't tell what it was.

A door inside of the structure slid open, but Jack only saw it because it revealed the light strips surrounding the mouth of the tunnel. The _Stormfly_ went inside, and Jack could make out it's purple hull just before he returned his focus to piloting. A tunnel required a vast deal more focus than open air.

The tunnel twisted and turned, slanting first upwards, to the left, and then downwards, twisting and turning into what Jack was tentatively calling a mountain.

After several minutes they came out into a hanger bay carved into the rocks. Berk fighters were lined up to one side, various types and colors, with a few yachts further to the back.

A blonde woman signaled him toward a stop near the yachts, and Jack brought the _Night Fury_ down for a smooth landing he couldn't deny he was proud of.

He powered down the engines and left the cockpit to meet the others at the ramp. He was thoroughly bemused to find Merida trying to fix Hiccup's messy brown hair. Her maternal instincts took the most interesting form, and he love the show – provided they weren't aimed at him. (Thankfully everyone he knew had accepted that his hair was impossible.)

He met Rapunzel's gaze almost by accident, and she gave him a weak smile. She was dressed simply, in a purple dress that came a few inches above her ankles, and a dark brown jacket. He could feel the weight over everything that needed to be said, but she accepted his arm when he offered it to her.

Hiccup had escaped Merida to lower the ramp, and she had begun fussing with her own outfit.

"Are you nervous?" Jack asked her.

"I never thought I'd meet his parents," she said. "Especially not like this." She gestured to her stomach.

Considering how Jack felt about Rapunzel's parents, that made perfect sense. He was still afraid of King Thomas.

The air that came through the entry didn't speak to him the way the breeze on Warren did. But it brought with it the smell of engines and grease. It was comfortable against his bare arms, and even without his powers that meant it was cold to most people.

Hiccup paused, exchanging glances with Jack and Merida, before he started down the ramp.

"Hiccup!" a booming voice called, so deep Jack felt it in his bones.

Jack saw Hiccup cringe a little.

"Hi, Dad."


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, this took forever. **

**Stoick's full title, in paragraph 2, is from the books. I find it too amusing not to use when I had the chance.**

**(Also, in case it isn't clear, the dialogue in italics is in Dragonese. I wish I could use the font that they use in the books, since I love that font, but I can't, so we'll have to settle for italics.)**

_Chapter 6_

For nearly four years Jack had heard stories about Berk. Hiccup had told him about the culture, the dragons, the legends, the people, and the war. Some of the stories had been to pass the long hours in hyperspace, or when things came up can he needed an example to explain why he chose what he did. Or to explain why a lot of people crammed into small spaces nearly sent him into a panic attack. A few times Jack had seen pictures of the people who populated the stories, so he had faces to accompany names he knew well. (A good thing, because before he saw a picture of Stoick he had just pictures a red haired version of North.)

Stoick the Vast, chief od the Hooligan Tribe, O Hear His Name and Tremble, Ugh Ugh (yeah, Jack had given up trying to figure that one out) was a mountain of a man, though the large beard that covered his barrel chest wasn't the vibrant red it had been in the holoimages Hiccup had.

In the age of blasters and ino canons, most armor was pretty much useless. But the Vikings still clung to their traditional attire. Stoick's wide belt was hung with a sheet of scale mail, the metal dulled by time and action. The blasters on the belt made up for the antiquated armor, though. Spiked arm bracers enhanced already beefy arms.

"That's Hiccup's father?" Rapunzel whispered, her green eyes wide as she looked down the ramp.

"Yup."

Stoick had run across the hanger with a speed that would have surprised Jack if he hadn't been trained by North. But he came to a stop a few feet shy of the ramp Hiccup still stood on. He stared at Hiccup, as though afraid he was going to wake up any moment to find this was all a dream. From his expression, Jack wondered if this was a dream Stoick had had a number of times over the years.

Up until this moment, Jack had felt that this reunion closesly paralleled his own return to Warren. But while the Governors had welcomes him back, none of their reactions compared to Stoick's as he looked at his son.

It was one of those bitter moments when Jack was reminded that he had no idea what it was like to have parents.

"My son." Stoick's deep voice was broken in just the two words.

"Hey, Dad." Hiccup's voice wasn't as deep or as big as his father's, but at the moment it was filled with just as much emotion. Relief, trepidation, and a few Jack couldn't name.

"You're back. You're home."

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, I'm home."

Movement just beyond Hiccup caught Jack's attention, and he watched Valka Haddock approach her husband and son, though neither of them noticed her until she came up beside Stoick.

Looking at Stoick, it was hard to comprehend he could have fathered Hiccup, who seemed to be his physical opposite. But when the smaller Valka was with them, the gene pool that had created Hiccup made a lot more sense.

He could feel Rapunzel watching the scene anxiously, while on his other side Merida seemed to be torn between watching and hiding inside the _Night Fury_. Sometimes he really didn't understand either of them.

The four or five other Vikings in the room all hung back, watching without sound of motion.

"Mom."

Valka let out a stunned, breathless laugh before she threw her arms around her son, pulling him into a tight hug.

Stoick laughed, and he didn't join the hug (because he was a Viking chief, after all)but his smil,e couldn't have been bigger as he rested his hands on their shoulders.

"Are you all right?" Valka asked, when she let go of the hug. "Where have you been?"

Hiccup shrugged, but Jack could hear the grin in his voice. "Oh, you know, dodging Imperials, surviving by the skin of my teeth. I—" he looked back over his shoulder, eyes locking on Merida just as she peeked around the doorway again.

Realizing that was her cue, she stepped out from her hiding place, and carefully made her way down the ramp. Stoick and Valka's eyes widened as they took in her condition.

"This is my wife, Merida," Hiccup said, and he was grinning as he took her hand, pressing his free hand over her stomach – just in case they had missed it. "And this is out as-yet-unnamed daughter."

If Jack had thought Stoick's smile couldn't get any bitter, he was proven wrong a moment later.

"You're going to be a father?"

Hiccup nodded.

"I'm going to be a grandfather!" Stoick seemed ready to burst with excitement. The weight on his shoulders seemed to have vanished as he looked at Merida, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. "Welcome to the family, my dear. I wish I could have told you sooner."

Jack couldn't hear what Valka said, but when Merida nodded the older woman lay her hands on Merida's stomach with visible tenderness. Her expression was one of awe as she looked at her daughter-in-law.

"It's a three-for-one deal," Jack grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. "They get their son back, a daughter-in-law, and a grandchild all in one day."

Rapunzel didn't giggle – a reminder that things between them were still tense.

Jack sighed. There wasn't time to figure out what to say, because Stoick had noticed them.

"Who are these two?"

"Jack Frost, and his wife, Rapunzel."

"The princess?" Valka asked, looking up from her conversation with Merida to look at Rapunzel, who blushed and nodded.

"We rescued her from Imperial Tower a couple weeks before the coup," Hiccup said. "Well, Jack rescued her. Then they decided to get married."

An over simplified summary that would have spared Jack a whole lot of stress and heart ache during their time and Corona – and omitted the fact he had very nearly died… but it was all kind of besides the point, he guessed.

"You guys helped," Jack said, going down the ramp to join them on the concrete floor.

"Aye, we did," Merida said.

"A little," Jack smirked, because he knew it would irritate her. (And because they really had only helped a little with the actual rescue.)

Merida shrugged, but didn't respond.

Now that they were closer, on Stoick and Valka's temples he could see the S-shaped dragon mark emblazoned in blue ink. What had once been the Viking slavemark, before Valka declared it the mark of the Dragon Rebellion.

"We never thought we'd see you again," Stoick said, looking back at Hiccup. "Why are you back?"

Hiccup took a deep breath, and squared his shoulders. "I started this war, and I'm gonna end it."

Stoick nodded.

But one of the other Vikings came closer. "No offense, Hiccup, but how do you plan to do that? We don't have enough force to beat Alvin, and now that he's courting the Imperial fleet, we've just about given up."

Jack recognized the voice. Eret was broad shouldered and dark haired, with four blue tattoos on his chin.

"How long until the Imperials show up?" Jack asked.

"Three weeks," Eret said.

"That gives us three weeks to finish this," Jack said. "It's not impossible."

Eret shook his head. "You have no idea what we've been through in the past four years."

"I know what war is like," Jack countered. "I know every war can be won with the right strategy." Her grimaced. "Stars, I sound like Bunny."

Merida snorted.

Hiccup stepped in before anyone could get into an argument. "This is what Jack, Merida and I have been doing for the past four years." He looked to his father. "I've had all that time to think about this."

"It's not like we have anything to lose," Stoick said. "If Alvin makes his treaty with the Imperials, we'll all die. We have to do what we can before then. We can start planning as soon as you're ready."

Hiccup nodded, and they all turned toward the door to leave the hanger. Jack when to hit the release for the hatch… before he cringed and remembered the one thing he probably shouldn't leave onboard the ship.

"Isolfr," he said in explanation, turning to run back up the ramp and towards the cockpit. He had half forgotten the wolf, who was still under the control panel when Jack reached the cockpit.

"We're about to lock up the ship for a while," Jack said, when the wolf lifted his head off his paws to look at him. He jerked his head for the wolf to follow him back out into the hanger, where the others were waiting for them.

As soon as they did Isolfr left Jack's side and trotted up to Rapunzel's, butting his head against her hand. The Vikings eyed the wolf warily, but no one commented as they left the hanger and stepped into…

"Is that ice?" Jack asked, looking up at the green tinted ceiling high above that seemed to be formed from massive blasts of ice.

"Aye," Valka said, pausing as well to look up. "This was a dragon nest, before Alvin began slaughtering them. The Bewilderbeast formed it as a safe haven for dragons. Now it's ours."

Jack followed her gesture towards the railing that ran along the walkway they had stepped out onto, and looked down, down, down…

The tiers of cliffs and drop offs that formed the inside of the cavern were covered in moss and ferns that grew bright green even in the chilled air. And in the water that pooled below was the massive white form of the Bewilderbeast. Jack felt his breath catch in admiration as he looked over the dragon's massive tusks, and the crest that grew up from its head.

Amongst the green ferns he saw the bright scales of a few dragons here and there around the cavern. But not many.

"This place used to be teaming with dragons," Hiccup said. "Hundreds of them. Now they're being driven to extinction."

"Well, that's why we're here," Hiccup reminded.

The Bewilderbeast opened on eye, and looked up at them with its ancient yellow eyes. Jack swallowed. After a moment the dragon closed its eye again, but Jack knew when he had been noticed.

"I want one," Jack said, leaning over the railing to try and see more of the dragon.

"You are five years old, Frostbite, ya know that?" Merida asked.

"If my ice palace looked like this, I would actually live in it!" Jack protested, gesturing to the cavern around him. "This is amazing!"

"You on the back of a Bewilderbeast would be impressive," Hiccup chuckled. Especially if you had your powers."

"Which would be redundant, since they'd both just shoot ice," Merida said.

Jack looked over his shoulder to glare at her. "You are ruining my fun."

She stuck her tongue out.

Hiccup chuckled and clapped Jack on the back. "Come on – we've got a war to plan."

Jack gave the dragon one last look before following the others to the war room.

#

Hiccup was still trying to comprehend that this wasn't a dream. The realization that he was back on Berk – he was _home_ – was so surreal he wasn't sure what to do with the sensation. He had been sure he would never come home.

But still, there was the awareness that he was on Berk, but this wasn't the island he had grown up on. It wasn't even the tunnels they had been in before he left. He had seen the Bewilderbeast's nest, but he wasn't intimately familiar with it; and especially not with all the changes that had been made to it since it had become the rebel base.

"How bad are thing here?" he asked, as he walked beside his father along the walkways, towards the war room.

Stoick's brow furrowed, and he let out a massive sigh. "Better than when you left – but not as well as we could wish. We're not hiding in the tunnels anymore. We have more numbers. But if this treaty happens—"

"It won't," Hiccup said, with all the assurance he could muster. Which was actually more than he expected, considering their situation.

This wasn't their first time on war torn planets. It wasn't even their first time getting involved in civil wars. Though, admittedly, they never actually planned to do so. But there was the advantage in the fact that he knew this territory. It was _his_ territory – just as Warren was Jack's. These people were his family, and his friends.

True, their team wasn't as strong as it usually was. With their strong arm eight months pregnant, that could be a drawback.

But he was determined not to lose again.

Hiccup hesitated, but he had to ask. "Who have we lost?"

"The list keep growing," Stoick said. "You can see the memorial wall later."

Hiccup expected that to be the end of it, but after a moment Stoick added: "We lost Gobber a couple years back."

Hiccup's throat tightened. His mentor, and his father's best friend. He remembered the years when he and his father had never been able to see eye to eye, and Gobber had been the only one in the tribe who seemed to do more than tolerate Hiccup and his constant tinkering around the shop.

"And Bertha. Camicazi is the new chief of the Bog Burglars."

"How is that working out?" Hiccup asked, quirking an eyebrow. He has always wondered what kind of chief his friend would make. Camicazi was always going out of her way to get involved in dangerous adventures – in her mind it wasn't fun if there wasn't a life-or-death risk. Not the best quality in a leader.

"Your friend Fishlegs has been helping her stay focused," Stoick said. "It was strange watching those two try to figure out how they worked without you there. I always thought they were a little odd, but I can't deny that they were always there when you needed them. Without you to follow, they were a little lost for a few months. Here we are."

He pushed open the carved wooden doors, and into the stone walled war room. Computer screens blazed from the walls, holo-projections hanging the air seemingly at random. In the center of the room was a large, oval table, a holo-projector built into the surface, as well as personal screens at each seat.

Before he could take in anything else (or try to figure out where his seat was) something collided against his side with a high pitched squeal.

"Hiccup! I knew you've come back. No one believed me, but I knew you would."

He looked down at a head of careless blonde hair that barely came up to his chest.

"I believed you," Fishlegs said indignantly, coming towards them. His glasses were still cracked, and still falling down his nose.

Camicazi let go of Hiccup, grinning. "Yes, but _I_ never doubted."

Fishlegs just rolled his eyes.

Scrawny, long limbed Fishlegs, nose bright red with hay fever that never went away no matter what the season, and tiny, wild Camicazi with an array of weapons strapped to her belt and bandolier. Older, but as familiar as the back of his hand. The eternal pessimist, and the eternal optimist.

"Welcome home," Fishlegs said. "Have you been staying out of trouble?"

"Of course not!" Camicazi said enthusiastically. She said everything enthusiastically. "He's Hiccup! He's a true Viking Hero – he's never turn away from an adventure."

"And all this time I thought I was the danger magnet," Jack said, coming to stand next to Hiccup.

"No, that was me," Hiccup said. "It's a bad habit."

Jack smirked at Merida, who stood on Hiccup's other side. "I'll accept your apology at any time."

"I'm convinced it was the both of ya," she scowled.

"Fishlegs, Camicazi, this is my friend Jack Frost, his wife Rapunzel, and my wife Merida. Guys, my best friends: Fishlegs and Camicazi."

"You're gonna be a father?" they both asked at the same time, but in very different tones.

Rapunzel was a few steps behind them, watching the introductions with one hand rested absently in the white fur at the back of Isolfr's neck.

After a minute or two of greeting, with the rooms other occupants greeting Hiccup (and saying multiple times that the baby was due in three weeks), Stoick called the room the order. Everyone took their places at the table, Hiccup on his father's right.

"We have three weeks to end this before Alvin signs the treaty with the New Empire," Stoick said, his deep voice commanding the attention of everyone in the room, even those that were scattered throughout the room, rather than at the table. "Hiccup believes we can win this, and it's the only chance we've got."

"You really think that's possible?" Fishleg's asked, looking up at Hiccup doubtfully from where he and Camicazi stood a little further down the table.

"If anyone can do it, it's Hiccup," Camicazi said. "Think about all he's gotten us out of before."

"And now I have Jack," Hiccup said, before they could start debating. "This is what we've been doing for the past four years."

A few of the Vikings looked at Jack doubtfully. No surprise – he wasn't exactly what Vikings pictured when they thought of heroes. It had taken everything for Hiccup to prove himself to his people. Thankfully no one voiced their doubt.

"What do we have?" Jack asked, clearly sliding into his element.

"We have pilots, though not as many as I'd like," Eret said, arms crossed over his broad chest. The new leader of the fleet, Hiccup guessed, going off the hierarchy he was gathering from everyone at the table.

"How are we on supplies?" Hiccup asked.

"Surviving," Valka said.

"We brought a few crates of food," Rapunzel said, speaking for the first time since they had arrived in the base. "As well as water, blankets, and med supplies."

"We can definitely use them," Valka nodded. "Thank you."

"And Jack has Imperial training," Hiccup said, looking back to Eret. "Maybe we can strategize on how to out maneuver Alvin's fleet. And he'll be flying the _Night Fury_."

"So the question is how to depose Alvin," Merida said. "Where is he?"

"Outcast territory," Stoick said. He pulled up a 3D holo-map that appeared in the air above the table, forming landmasses and waters, showing where the land rose into mountains or descended into vallies. A smaller version appeared in front of Stoick, and as he pointed the areas on his map, glowing red marks appeared on the larger one. "His entire fortress is shielded, and we've yet to find a way in."

"What are his reserources?" Jack asked.

"The Outcasts, most of the Murderous, the Vistithugs, and the Uglithugs," Sroick said, pointing out the territories of the tribes as he named them. "And most of the Beserks and the Hysterics."

"Translation?" Jack asked, looking at Hiccup.

"About 1850 fighters," Hiccup said. He looked to his parents, to make sure his estimate was correct, and his mother nodded confirmation. "Most of them in prime condition."

"Wonderful," Jack muttered. "And we have."

"The Bog Burglar fleet," Camicazi said. "And they're some of the best pilot's on Berk."

That wasn't quite true… but Camicazi was loyal to her tribe, if nothing else.

"The Hooligans, the Bog Burglars, the Meatheads, the Bashem Oiks, maybe a third of the Murderous, and a handful of others."

"No offense, but that doesn't mean anything to me," Jack said, rubbing his forehead, his usual tactless self.

"738," Erest said, possibly taking pity on Jack. "On a good day."

"On a bad day?" Jack asked warily.

"650."

"A middling day?"

"700."

Hiccup saw appreciation in Jack's eyes as he nodded.

"How many do we have at the moment?"

"673."

"Looks like I'm going to start with ship repair," Jack said.

"Jack, 700 against nearly 2000?" Rapunzel broke her silence again – the first time Hiccup had seen them address each other in days. "Three to one? Those odds are laughable."

"But they're the odds we have," Jack said, looking back at her. "We have to find a way to make it work."

"And we faced worse on Aust Minor," Merida said.

"That's not encouraging," Rapunzel said quietly, hugging herself with one arm while the other hand remained in Isolfr's fur.

Either Jack had told her about the war there, or she had read about it in the news. Either way, Hiccup had to admit she was right. True, they had eventually won – but not without heavy damages.

"This isn't Aust Minor," Jack said, glaring at Merida. He looked at Rapunzel as though he wanted to hug her to his side in reassurance, but he returned his gaze to the holo-map. "What about Alvin's fortress?"

It took a moment before Stoick spoke again, pointing out the Outcast territory, nearly on the other side of the planet, a jagged island that looked less than hospitable even in the vague details of the holo-map.

"We took back Fort Sinister a few months after Hiccup left, and they pulled back from the Amber Slavelands a year later."

"Are all his troops there?" Jack asked.

"No, they're all in their own territories," Stoick said.

"So if we launch a surprise attack, we would only be facing the Outcasts," Merida said.

"You're forgetting that our fleet is scattered as well," Eret said. "We can't convene without drawing attention."

"Fat lot o' good that does us," Merida muttered, scowling down at the table.

Jack's expression said his thoughts were racing, though. "You're still onto something, Merida. A surprise attack in the middle of the night, when they're not ready." He looks at Eret. "Do any of your fighters have camouflage?"

"A few," Eret nodded.

"It might work," Jack said, glancing at Hiccup.

"I like it!" Camicazi said. "I volunteer myself, of course! The Bog Burglar fleet is close enough we could be at Outcast territory in a couple hours."

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "We're not doing it tonight – I need a better idea of what I'm up against."

"We have one major advantage," Stoick said, drawing attention back to his. He met Hiccup's gaze. "Excellinor is dead. Without her, Alvin is scrambling to maintain power."

"Gothel and Excellinor in the same year," Jack said, with a low whistle. "If that's not a favorable wind, I don't know what is."

"Who's Excellinor?" Rapunzel asked.

"Alvin's mother," Valka said. "He never would have reached the throne without her, and allying with the Empire is the only way he can think to hold onto it now she's gone."

Excellinor was dead. Hiccup let the words hit him, trying to absorb all that they meant. Excellinor, who had always been one step a head of him – who always seemed to know exactly how to beat him just at the last moment. She was the one who had revealed his Slavemark at the Thing just before he'd been crowned King of the Wilderwest.

The one who had killed Astrid in the hopes it would break him.

Alvin he could beat. He had been doing it since he was thirteen. His mistake had been letting Excellinor out of that Danger-Brute dungeon when he was sixteen. If he hadn't done that… everything would have been so different. This whole war never would have happened.

Merida squeezed his hand, fingers laced tightly with his.

Hiccup looked over at her, returning the pressure of his hand with a small smile.

The war wouldn't have happened, sure.

But their daughter wouldn't have happened, either. And he wouldn't trade that for anything.

He looked across the table at Jack. "Start on the ship repair. See what you can do. Once we have some solid numbers we can come up with a concrete plan."

Jack nodded.

"I need a list of our numbers, our bases, our resources – and everything Alvin has," Hiccup said. "I can't make a decision until I have that."

The meeting was pretty much over after that. Jack and Eret went back to the hanger bay to start on repairs, and others started to disperse.

Camicazi came up and grabbed his arm. "We have something for you."

She dragged him out of the war room, and by extension Merida, who didn't let go of his hand.

"We got it when we took Fort Sinister," Camicazi said, practically jumping up and down as she dragged them down the walkway, and into one of the lifts, hitting a button for a lower level. "That's where we met, remember? In the dungeons, after Alvin kidnapped you, me, and Fishlegs; to try and get our parents to declare a blood feud. You showed him, though."

Bertha _had_ declared a blood feud, actually. Stoick had been on the verge of one. An actual war had been averted when the three of them had landed on the deck of her barge, after they'd escaped from Fort Sinister.

The lift door opened, and Camicazi was once more dragging them down a hallway, past the doors Hiccup guessed led to dorms and apartments.

"Is she always this hyper?" Merida asked, in a whisper.

Hiccup grinned wryly. "Pretty much."

"Here we are." Camicazi threw open a door and dragged them into an apartment that was decidedly too tidy to be her own. Sure enough, Fishlegs was already there, standing by the desk, talking to…

"_T-T-Toothless trying to s-s-sleep, stupid Vikings. Why can't you just leave p-p-poor Toothless alone?"_

"Toothless," Hiccup breathed, staring at the small green dragon curled up on the desk.

The dragon turned is bright, hypnotic green gaze on Hiccup, forgetting that he had been telling Fishlegs exactly how rude it was that he had been woken from a nap. Which was pointless, since Fishlegs didn't even understand Dragonese. He blinked once, twice… then looked even more annoyed. Toothless stood up on the desk, stretched, and made a great show of turning his back to Hiccup and laying down. He snorted, a puff of smoke coming from his nostrils.

"Is that…?" Merida trailed off, staring.

Hiccup nodded as he rolled his eyes. Really, it was exactly what he had expected from the rebellious little dragon – in the rare moments he had dared to hope Toothless was still alive. When he had left, Alvin had captured Toothless. Considering Alvin's hatred of dragons, Hiccup had been sure Toothless was dead.

He looked back at Fishlegs. "How did you get him back?"

"When we took Fort Sinister, Alvin retreated like the coward he is," Camicazi said. "He left Toothless. I guess he was keeping him alive to try and use him against you or something."

"_And what d-does Toothless come back to?"_ The dragon asked. _"He spends weeks and weeks imprison by stupid Alvin, and when he comes back where is Hiccup? Gone! Hiccup left Toothless to ALVIN!" _The outburst left the dragon huffing in agitation, but he still refused to look at Hiccup.

"_I didn't want to,"_ Hiccup said, Dragonese coming back to him easily.

"_Hmph. Toothless no talk to mean master who abandoned Toothless."_

"Here," Fishlegs said, handing Hiccup a bowl that clattered with several oysters. "I'm guessing you need these."

"Thanks." Hiccup turned back to Toothless, purposefully rattling the bowl to get the temperamental dragon's attention. Temperamental… but predictable. _"Even if I give you oysters?"_

"Does he do this often?" Merida asked.

"Conversations we can't understand?" Fishlegs asked. "All the time."

Toothless finally glanced over his small shoulder, eyeing the bowl… then remembering his strike and looking straight ahead again. _"No. Not even for oysters. Toothless very mad at mean master."_

Hiccup wanted to apologize profusely, to say that he had done everything in his power to get the dragon back. And it would have been true, but it wasn't how to get through to Toothless.

Hiccup sighed dramatically. _"I guess I'll have to eat them, then."_

"I hate not knowing what's goin' on," Merida muttered.

Hiccup squeezed her hand.

Toothless was swaying back and forth, visibly dithering about what to do. But greed was a difining characteristic of the dragon's personality, and he finally turned around. _"Well, if mean master is truly, truly sorry, Toothless will forgive him and eat his oysters."_

"_I am truly, truly sorry,"_ Hiccup said.

The dragon huffed again, but looked up at Hiccup. _"Hiccup is forgiven then."_


End file.
